Washington, D.C. – In response to the Eastern District of New York’s decision to permit children under the age of 17 to purchase emergency contraception without a prescription, Representative Mark Meadows (NC-11) and 50 fellow Members of Congress sent a letter to the President today asking his administration to appeal.

On December 7, 2011, Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Kathleen Sebelius, with the support of President Obama, overruled a decision by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to make emergency contraception available over the counter to women of all ages. Secretary Sebelius ordered that women ages 16 and under must have a doctor’s prescription in order to obtain emergency birth control, specifically Plan B One-Step (levonorgestrel) and its generic. On April 5, 2013, District Judge Edward Korman reversed the HHS Secretary’s decision, thus allowing unrestricted access to emergency birth control medication over the counter, including to children under the age of 17.

“Enabling children to purchase and administer emergency contraception without the advice of a doctor and consent and supervision of a parent is unacceptable,” Meadows said. “Such a gross lack of oversight not only poses significant health concerns, but it also opens the door to potential sexual abuse and coercion of minors. President Obama supported Secretary Sebelius’s decision to restrict youth access to emergency birth control. We must encourage him to honor his original commitment to protecting children and remind him of the harmful consequences that the Court’s decision could have for young women and their families should his administration choose not to act on this judicial overreach.”